By Fire, By Water
by aceofspades57
Summary: "I swear to God that she's the kindest, gentlest, calmest, most caring, most forgiving girl-pfft BWAHAHAHA. Sorry kid, you're pretty much screwed." Acexoc
1. Homecoming

Waking up to the sun shining rather obnoxiously in your face when you are on an island you don't know the name of and you are practically ten thousand miles from where you should be is not really the best incitement to wake up. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed and sitting up straight, she stared blearily at the window and then flopped back onto the bed.

Still in the process of waking up, the woman in a blissful daze stared at ceiling fan, watching its every turn. A brown spot on the ceiling caught her attention. A _moving_ brown spot. Shit. The woman jumped out of the motel bed and fell flat on her face. Damn early morning leg weakness. Quickly scrambling to her feet, she snatched her clothes that she had laid out the day before, of the bed and scurried into the bathroom.

This was the last time she spent the night in some seedy motel in the middle of nowhere, even if that means sleeping on the street. Damn cheap motels wither their goddamn insect infestations. Taking of her pajamas, which consisted of an over sized t-shirt and sweatpants, she changed into a gray tank, a pair of jeans, some sneakers, and placed an ever important silver locket around her neck.

Glancing down at the leather jacket in her hand she pondered whether or not to wear it. _It'll probably be hot outside but then again if I don't wear it people could see the tattoo…Meh, whatever._ She tied the jacket around her waist for safe keeping and continued on with her daily routine. Teeth brushed, face washed, showered; now all that was left was the giant tumbleweed of black curly hair that was stuck to her head. She gulped while looking at her reflection. This was going to take a while.

After about thirty minutes of combing through her curly locks she was ready with a simple ponytail and shoving the remainder of her clothes into a small sack she was out the door.

* * *

His job was simple. Just look out at the ocean and if there is a sign of pirates you ring a giant bell and other people will alert the marines. He didn't even have to alert them himself, just stand there and look competent. But who would want to invade their dusty little island anyway? It was literally a small rock floating in the middle of the ocean. No outstanding fortune, no financial prosperity, hell, most of the land itself sucked. The only things worthwhile were the fields in the south of the island that blossomed with roses during the spring and the beaches. Unfortunately, this man didn't like anything on this quaint little island. He slept, he ate, and he drank. Once he made enough money, he would bail.

He cautiously opened his eyes, from his early morning nap and took a large swig of booze left over from the night before. He would have gone back to sleep had it not been for the Jolly Roger he spotted. He blanched on the spot. Being in the handful of flags he memorized, why would _he_ come _here_ of all places? The man scrambled up and yanked the rope to the bell with all his might. They were already on the shore. The Whitebeard Pirates.

* * *

The town was in a complete frenzy. People were screaming, running into other people, screaming, fleeing in a massive mob, _screaming_. God, did she hate loud noises. Especially loud noises emitted by mobs of terrified people. She didn't have the slightest clue what was going on. Repressing her annoyance, she decided to take refuge in a nearby bar but made sure to put on her jacket as to not freak out anybody who may still be inside. There was an relatively young man behind the counter cleaning empty glasses. He took one glance at her and set down the glass with a questioning look. "Pirates are invading the island. Everyone is evacuating, so why aren't you?"

She grabbed a seat at the counter. "I could ask you the same question." A cheeky grin spread across her face.

"Reasons." He said retaining a sense of mystery. She chuckled, laying her head on the counter. "I've got my reasons too. I'm waiting for my friends." The young woman closed her eyes and peacefully fell into a light sleep. Something about this girl was off. To outright fall asleep in the middle of a pirate invasion. She has guts. But that was beside the point, something about her seemed familiar. Maybe her curly black hair, maybe her attire, maybe her eyes. Ocean blue eyes with green flecks that popped in contrast to her black hair. One thing was for sure, she wasn't a face you could easily forget but she couldn't be any older than 19. So where on earth had he seen her?

Not five minutes after the woman had dozed off the door opened and a blonde man in a purple jacket walked calmly in. He scanned the bar that was devoid of life and his eyes rested on the two figures at the counter. He had sort of a sleepy look in his eyes and a light blue sash was tied around his waist. The bartender stiffened when he saw the mark on the stranger's chest. He looked at his overall features and instantly recognized him. First division Commander of the Whitebeard pirates, "Marco the Phoenix".

"What can I get you?" He said trying to maintain a calm disposition. The pirate flashed a white grin at him and took a seat next to the sleeping woman. "You see, me and my crew are lookin' for someone, one of our own. We've got reason to believe she got stranded somewhere in this area, that's the only reason we're here."

The bartender set a bottle of beer on the counter and the pirate nodded gratefully. He drank almost half the bottle before speaking again. "She's 'bout 5'7'', she's got curly black hair, and eyes-"

"Like the sea?" The bartender finished. The pirate smiled, intrigued at how got a bulls-eye so easily. "Yeah, that's her. How'd ya know about the eyes though?" He said lifting the bottle to his lips. The bartender made a gesture to the girl who was out cold sleeping blissfully in the presence of an infamous pirate. That was definitely her. The pirate shook her gently and she shot up like someone who had just been electrocuted. "I'm up! I'm up." The force of her jerking backward caused the chair to lean back too and with the gracefulness of a charging bull she tumbled backwards and hit the floor with a shriek.

The blonde pirate was in hysterics. The look on her face when she fell, priceless. She stood and whipped back to the man who was laughing his ass off at her accident, ready to curse him out for all he was worth but she stopped short when she saw his face. "Marco?!" she near shrieked.

"Damn right, I am." He said, still convulsing with waves of amusement. She turned bright scarlet. "IT'S NOT THAT FUNNY!" She screamed. His laughter died down and he took enough breaths to regain normal speech functions. "Haven't changed a bit, have you Saph?" She yawned and stretched until a pop was heard, probably from her back. "Nope," she deadpanned. The blonde pirate chuckled and stood up, wrapping and arm around her shoulder.

"Good." And like that, the two pirates were gone. The bartender breathed a huge sigh of relief. What were the odds of "Sapphire Maelstrom" landing in their quaint little island? Apparently higher than they had thought.

"So, how is everybody?" The black haired woman asked in an attempt to start a conversation. "Good, oh and get this. We've got a newbie." The woman frowned. She hated newbies; you always had to explain to them what not to do. 1- Do not flirt with Sapphire. 2- If you do, quit immediately before you get hurt. 3- For those who are dumb enough to persist, which is most of the newbies, hopefully they know how to swim. There were many other basic rules of how to get hurt and what to do to avoid getting hurt and a majority of these things had the name Sapphire in them.

It generally takes about one or two days for the newbies to learn this but for the extra retarded and persistence it might take a week or so.

The sea shore was in sight. The Moby Dick sitting on the beach, she was finally home. "Try not to break this one 'kay?" Marco added with a smirk.

"I make no promises."

He was officially a Whitebeard pirate. He had the tattoo to prove it too. Despite being relatively green he was already one of the crew before he even joined. Now, at breakfast time everyone was stuffing their faces with meat, beer, and more meat. Ah, a pirate's life is a wonderful thing. "Hey!" A blondish man with a pompadour hairstyle stood up calling everyone's attention with a mug held high. "To Ace, he finally stopped being a hardass and joined us!" Everybody else raised their glasses. "Here, here!"

Ace couldn't help noticing the absence of the first division commander. He really didn't seem like the type to miss out on a party. "Oi, Thatch," he said in between mouthfuls of meat. "Where'd Marco go?" Swallowing another gulp of beer Thatch looked around the mess of people searching for a sign of their favorite pineapple head. "Beats me, probably went out to find Sapphire."

"Who's Sapphire?" Thatch exchanged amused glances with Jozu and Vista. "Well, she's absolutely, the kindest, sweetest, gentlest, calmest, coolest, most forgiving, girl you'll –pfft BWAHAHA" Thatch broke out into a fit of laughter as did anybody else within earshot. "I couldn't even do that with a straight face. Sorry kid, you're pretty much screwed."

"Anybody care to clarify?" Ace said beginning to worry about what harpy he might be faced with. "She's got the temper of bull with its eyes dyed red." Izo blurted.

"Strong too, but a tiny little thing, but that's what makes her punches so painful. Her bony fists!" Jozu added.

"And she's got the mood swings of a pregnant woman." The list kept getting longer and longer about Sapphire's rage filled escapades. Throwing one guy overboard for some harmless flirting. Breaking another guy's nose for calling her a bitch. Dislocating another guy's arm, just cause. It went on and on.

A sudden yell caught the attention of everyone in the room. It said something to the degree of "THATCH!" Ace had never seen a man go that pale, that fast.

"Speak of the devil."

"Here it comes."

"Brace for impact!"

The black haired demon woman that they had been describing not even a minute ago pulled up a seat in front of their newest recruit with their first division commander not far behind. Ace was faced with taunting blue eyes, wild black hair and a smirk that would make the devil proud. "Well, well,well. It's been a while hasn't it Freckles?" Realization hit him like a _train_.

"Saph?!"


	2. The Blue-Eyed Demon

_The black haired demon woman that they had been describing not even a minute ago pulled up a seat in front of their newest recruit with their first division commander not far behind. Ace was faced with taunting blue eyes, wild black hair and a smirk that would make the devil proud. "Well, well,well. It's been a while hasn't it Freckles?" Realization hit him like a __train_.

_"Saph?!"_

Trying to mull over the shock of the familiar face sitting in front of him Ace slowly began to get worried. He was happy and all about the reunion with his childhood friend, but the last time he had seen her, he was leaving Dawn Island to realize his hopes and dreams. And she was busy spouting out a rainbow of names and terms while shaking her fist angrily and flipping him off.

He really didn't see what the big deal was. It was a innocently intended peck on the cheek that ended up on the lips because his hyperactive little brother thought they were having a group hug without him. "What are you _doing_ here?" Her smirk grew wider at the surprise in his voice. Leaning backward in her chair, she propped her feet up on the table and folded her arms over her chest.

"I'm realizing my dream of being a professional stripper for the Whitebeard pirates." Snickers ran across the room. "Bullshit." Ace deadpanned, biting into a hunk of meat. "Sewioswy wai awe yew hea?" She slid up her left jacket arm and showed off a large purple tattoo that started at her shoulder and stopped short just above her wrist. "Oh, when did that happen?" Saph furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side, counting months. "Uh, about a year or so." She turned her head to Vista. "It's been about a year, right?"

"There's that sense of time of yours. It's been two years." She nodded slightly and returned her attention to her freckled friend. "Two years." Another thing Ace noticed that has not changed since he had first met her. She's still as 'go with the flow' as she's always been. She still has that sense of humor. She still has her inability to estimate time. And apparently, she still has her temper. "So, _you're_ the unholy demon woman they've been telling me about.

She let an annoyed sigh and began scanning the room for the culprits. "Are you bastards a bunch of old ladies? 'Cause I'm really starting to think so with the amount of gossiping all of you do."

"Says the girl who spends half of her time reading and the other half sleeping." Izou replied.

"Reading is fundamental."

Finally Marco addressed the issue that had all of them wondering for the past five minutes. "So, Saph, you know Ace?"

"Yeah, I know him. We're childhood friends. Isn't that right, Freckles?" Freckles nodded. "Uh huh, I remember the day I met you. You punched me in the face."

Sapphire immediately prepared to defend herself. "You were staring threateningly at me and I reacted how anybody would."

"Yeah right."

* * *

The sound of seagulls and the smell of seawater were ever present around their fishing spot. It was by far the best spot they had come across since a certain straw hated bottomless pit had eaten the entire fish population living in one of the nearby pond. Though his freckle faced brother may have had a small hand in it but that was beside the point.

The point _was_ that Luffy was being his usual hyperactive and annoying self and it was staring to grate on Ace's nerves. They were fishing for Pete's sake! You're supposed to be quiet while fishing and above all you are not supposed to be like Luffy.

"I give up." Ace threw down his fishing rod and started for home. "Wait, Ace!" Luffy immediately ran after his brother, fishing poles dragging behind him.

When you walk into the crappy little shack that you call home and see everyone fighting over meat as if it were their own lives you see everything is pretty much normal. But when you walk into the crappy little shack you call home, see everyone eating, and see a girl sitting in the corner nibbling on a piece of meat, you realize that this id definitely not normal. She was wearing a short yellow sundress with a pink butterfly clip in her short curly black hair.

Ace pointed to her and turned to the owner of the crappy shack. "Dadan, who the hell is she?" First, Luffy screws up what was supposed to be tomorrows dinner now there's some random girl eating _his_ meat? That _he_ caught? "That's what I said. That assho-I mean Garp dropped her off and left her here. Take care of this one too he says. Don't, and go to jail he says."

Ace sauntered up to the petite girl and glowered at her. She was quite literally skin and bones and looked like she hadn't seen sunlight for the majority of her life. The girl looked up at him and he couldn't help but notice her deep blue eyes. "Who the hell are you?" His glare intensified and stared calmly at him before returning to her meat.

"She hasn't said a word since she got here." One of the bandits clarified. "We don't even know her name." The girl stood up and head toward the door. It had been a long day and frankly she was tired. And she was extremely jumpy but that was a different story, so, could you really blame her? _He_ was the one who grabbed _her_ out of the blue, so can you really blame her for socking him in the mouth?

* * *

Waking up in the morning should be a gradual thing that should involve mini naps in between the first and last 'wake up'. They should involve nice little mini dreams about puppies and kittens and when you're finally ready to get up there should be no question about that decision. It should, under no circumstances, involve being yanked out of bed and slung over the shoulders of a freckle-faced pyromaniac.

**A/N Second chapter is up, sorry it's a bit short but in all honesty I wrote this in a day after rewriting this chapter over five times. I hope you enjoyed it. :) Criticism is always welcome whether it be good or bad. See ya next time.**


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